A large variety of rotary washing brushes for the cleaning of automobiles, windows, and many other objects are well known and widely used. Such devices are adapted to be connected to the end of a conventional garden hose, or the like, which supplies the necessary water for the washing operation. Some of these devices include reservoirs for detergent and/or wax external to the brush such that these additives are fed with the water during the washing process. The brushes known in the art utilize a disk type brush operating about an axis generally perpendicular to the surface being washed. These brushes are either driven by gear mechanisms or by some form of turbine which is operated by the water flowing through the device. Typical of the brushes known in the art are shown and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,989,391, issued to R. H. Thorner on Nov. 2, 1976; 3,153,799, issued to W. O. Williams on Oct. 27, 1964; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,918,686, issued to R. L. Swearngin on Dec. 29, 1959. Further typical patents include U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,678,457, issued to M. J. Demo, et al., on May 18, 1954; 2,540,240, issued to W. F. Boyle on Feb. 6, 1951; 1,796,641, issued to J. Zimmerman, et al., on Mar. 17, 1931; 1,649,677, issued to M. Ferrari on Nov. 15, 1927; 1,636,437, issued to A. I. Riedel on July 19, 1927; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,212,967, issued to S. Light, et al., on Jan. 16, 1917. Other very old patents in this field are U.S. Pat. Nos. 919,756; 661,277; and 634,813.
The rotary brushes, as illustrated in this prior art, have certain disadvantages. For example, the entire surface of the brush is usually in contact with the surface being washed. If the brush has any significant size, there is substantial friction between the brush and surface, even though the surface is lubricated with the water, and thus considerable force must be utilized to rotate the brush. Accordingly, the brushes are usually quite small in diameter, and therefore, cover a relatively small area of the surface being washed. Furthermore, a slight exertion of pressure on the brushes causes the stalling thereof, and therefore, the brush loses its effectiveness. In the brushes that are shown to have systems for adding detergent and/or wax to the water, the added auxillary equipment contributes significantly to the cost of the unit as well as the maintenance thereof.
Accordingly, it is one object of the present invention to provide a rotating brush for washing surfaces such as automobiles and the like wherein a relatively small portion of the brush is in contact with the surface at any one time, thereby reducing the force necessary to cause rotation of the brush.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a rotating wash brush wherein detergent and/or wax is added in a very simple manner.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a hydraulically driven washing brush which rotates on an axis substantially parallel to the surface being washed, whereby surfaces are washed and/or waxed with an inexpensive apparatus.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon the consideration of the drawings described below and a description of the invention that follows.